U.S. radio hopes politics, advertisers boost 2008

US RADIO HOPES POLITICS, ADVERTISERS BOOST 2008
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sue Zeidler]
With 2007 poised to be its seventh straight year of slow to no growth, the $20 billion U.S. radio industry hopes to break the trend with political advertising and revenues from nontraditional sources in 2008. While revenue from Web sites, concert promotions and other nontraditional areas amount to less than 10 percent of the total radio industry revenue base, it has grown steadily over the past few years as the rest of the industry lagged in the face of increased competition from iPods, the Web, music- playing cellphones and other entertainment devices. Radio industry officials believe these revenue sources will contribute more over time. Large operators such as market leader Clear Channel Communications Inc, CBS Corp and Emmis Communications Corp have cited good traffic and ad revenue growth at radio station Web sites, which provides them with helpful audience data.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1735606820070717